Guest blog: Mike Niles, Press & Public Affairs, British Consulate-General, New York
Word to the wise: if you are ever in New York the third week of September and feel like a quiet walk through midtown Manhattan, I suggest taking a look at Central Park or Wall Street instead. When world leaders descend on midtown for the annual opening of the UN General Assembly, ‘quiet’ is not a word to describe the streets.
Whether you are being redirected through the streets and avenues by NY Police Department or standing behind barriers waiting for the President’s motorcade to drive past, it is difficult not to feel a little excitement during this time where all of the world’s greatest powers are working together just around the corner.
Some of those world leaders are representing our interests: British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg visited New York to address the General Assembly and speak about the Millennium Development Goals to eradicate poverty and disease from countries around the world. The government feels that the targets previously set are not being met by enough countries and agreed to present the Assembly with a petition from Avaaz which encourages world leaders to keep their promises. For our part, at least, Mr Clegg announced that the UK has renewed its commitment to the MDGs with steps to save the lives of 50,000 mothers and a quarter of a million babies by 2015.
Alongside meeting government leaders in NYC, the Deputy PM also fielded questions from future leaders – students at New York University. Here’s a great video we produced from the NYU event with Mr Clegg’s responses to some interesting questions. Deputy Prime Minister at NYU
Another visitor was the Foreign Secretary, William Hague, who had a frenetic schedule of bilateral meetings and meetings outside the UN with British American Business leaders and at the Council on Foreign Relations. Reaching out to those who weren’t in NY, he also questions on Twitter about all types of Foreign Office business including Iran and Climate Change. On the topic of climate change, Mr Hague’s speech at the Council on Foreign Relations outlined why action is critical and highlighted the technological advancements that are creating sustainable growth in the UK. The breakfast event featured a discussion with the Foreign Secretary and guests – clips of which can be viewed here.
After UNGA we hosted the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and the Financial Secretary to the Treasury.
The streets around midtown have calmed down (although only by Manhattan standards). We have a busy month ahead, on which we’ll blog again in a couple of weeks.